Accepting Defeat
by starr101
Summary: A new threat has made itself known in Alex's life, an organization known as Mors Omnibus. But what could they possibly want with Alex? He's retired after all...
1. Chapter 1

ALEX

Alex sighed, he was backed into a corner with no escape. He had no gadgets and no gun. No one was coming to help him and a dozen trained agents were slinking towards him, guns drawn.

His hands were tied and he was tired and all he wanted to do was collapse.

He knew when to accept defeat.

2 DAYS PREVIOUS

"No, I won't do it and you can't make me!" Alex was vaguely aware of just how childish this made him sound.

Mrs. Jones sat in front of him chewing nervously on her ever-present peppermint with a stone faced Alan Blunt to her left.

Mr. Blunts eyes narrowed marginally at Alex's challenge. "Well, I guess we could let hundreds of orphaned children die. After all, we wouldn't want to inconvenience you Alex."

If looks could kill Blunt would have been dead on the spot from Alex's hatred filled glare, "Get someone else to do it," he spat out with clenched teeth.

Mrs. Jones cut in, "Alex, you know we wouldn't ask you if it wasn't dire. No one else can do it. It has to be you. I don't like it any more than you do but sometimes you have to think of the greater good."

Alex was seething, "Was it for the greater good that my parents died and my uncle died then? What about Jack? Is it all fine and dandy that they _died_ because it was for the _greater good_?"

Blunt sighed, "I didn't want it to come to this Alex but, after all you are too young to be living on your own. You might be better off if we sent you to a Boy's Home for the time being. Or maybe, after all you've been on many mentally taxing missions, it might be better for you, psychologically, to admit you to an Institution."

Alex felt all his resolve drain out of him. He sighed tiredly, running his fingers through his hair., "I'm not crazy," he whispered.

"Well how are we supposed to know that?" Blunt asked. Then, with no response forthcoming, "What will it be Alex?"

Alex sighed, he knew when to admit defeat.

** (A/N) Hey, all! I've recently been working through this plot and I wanted to see what you guys think. Don't worry, normal chapters will be longer, this was just a prologue. I have a couple chapters written already and if you like it I'll continue so... REVIEW, please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N) And... I bring you the second installment! I hope you enjoy! For those who don't know, while I do have a few chapters already written, this story is a WIP. So bear with me.**

**Disclaimer: Nope...I don't own Alex Rider**

He closed his eyes willing himself not to think of the consequences if he was caught.

He had been sent, ironically, to an orphanage. MI6 had intercepted a communication from a terrorist group known as _Mors Omnibus _which translates almost directly as "_death to all." _The communication which was sent to one Mr. Strummer, the man in charge of the Royal Albert Orphanage, had the cryptic message "It begins," and nothing more.

And that was why Alex was in his present state; hiding for his life from a madman yet again.

He was tired of it.

At long last he heard the door to Mr. Strummer's office open and footsteps fade away. He slowly let his breath out.

He had been rummaging through the headmasters desk when Mr. Strummer had almost caught him. Now, he eased out of the closet silently.

The rational part of his brain was screaming for him to leave as quickly as possible but the other, slightly reckless, side of him couldn't leave without knowing what Strummer was up to.

He was searching through the massive stack of papers on the desk before something caught his eye, a locked drawer at the bottom of the desk. Coming to a decision he pulled out the bubble gum that Smithers had provided him with, similar to the gum given to him on his mission involving Alexei Sarov. He chewed the bubblegum and then pushed it inside the lock. Within seconds the lock fizzled and broke.

Inside the drawer were a bunch of bills and receipts along with some other financial documents any normal man would keep. He was about to close the drawer when he saw it. He pulled out a piece of paper. On it was a jumble of chemical equations. In another circumstance Alex might have disregarded it. But what was a supposedly innocent man in charge of orphans doing with a sheet of chemical equations? What could he possibly need it for?

Alex doubted that he was a scientist in his spare time. He pulled out his phone, given to him by Smithers, and snapped a photo of the document he then pushed and held the number 1 and it was automatically sent to MI6. He pocketed the phone and stood up.

At that moment, the office door burst open and Mr. Strummer burst in. He didn't look shocked. In fact, he looked more like he had been expecting him. He smiled, "Oh Nathan I knew who you were from the very beginning. Maybe I should call you Alex then, since that is your real name after all."

Alex was frozen, how could he possibly know? He had been there only two days. Desperately he tried to think of a way out of his situation. "I don't know what you're talking about Mr. Strummer, sir, my name is Nathan. It's Nathan Werth, sir.

As he spoke he nonchalantly reached inside his pocket. He pressed and held the panic button set in at the bottom of the phone. MI6 said they had an SAS team on call after the disaster of his last mission which had ended up with him in the hospital, severely injured. They said the response time would be 5 minutes. But then again, when could he trust MI6.

Still, they were his only hope of getting out of his increasingly alarming situation.

Mr. Strummer chuckled darkly, "Alex, let's not lie to each other now. I already know everything about you so it wouldn't be worth it. Let's see," he strode closer, counting on his fingers.

"First, your name is Alex Rider. You're 15 years old, although your birthday is in 8 days. You work for MI6 and have been sent here to investigate me as well as the organization called _Mors Omnibus._"

He paused and glanced at Alex who had said nothing. "But I'm sure this all sounds terribly familiar to you. What you don't know however is that I knew you were coming even before you did. I let you prance about undercover thinking you were clever, but the whole time I knew."

This caught Alex completely off guard. There was no way he could have known, he must be bluffing. The only strategy Alex could think of was to keep him talking until the SAS showed up. "If you knew the whole time why didn't you confront me earlier?" Alex asked.

"Oh, it was quite amusing to watch a child play in an adult's world." The man responded.

Alex said nothing, he had no witty comment, no clever comeback. Because, after all, that's what he was. He was just a child lost in a world of death and destruction that he couldn't find his way out of. He was stuck.

"Ahh, that struck a chord didn't it?" Strummer smirked. "And now, you're coming with me."

Alex glared, "And why would I do that?"

Mr. Strummer produced a gun from seemingly out of nowhere, "How about because you have no choice?"

Knowing he had won, he gestured with the gun for Alex to walk. Knowing his only hope, was the SAS team he sent out his pleas.

And, as if his wish had been granted they were there.

They crashed through the door guns blazing. Instinctively Alex ducked, and not a moment too soon as bullets ripped past from either side.

In the mayhem it was impossible to tell which side was friendly. All Alex could hear was the deafening crashed of bullets and then after that the deafening silence that fell.

Alex looked up and saw the dead body of Mr. Strummer laying five feet from where he was. Blood was pooling out of his chest and leg. Disgustedly, Alex noticed that the blood had reached him and had stained his hands along with his trousers.

He turned to look at the other men and was startled that he recognized them. Of all the units to send, of course it had been K-Unit. He could imagine Blunt and Jones having a laugh about it back in their safe little offices.

"Hey guys, perfect timing." He tried to diffuse the tension.

It was Wolf who spoke first, "Cub? What are you doing here?!" This was followed by a thick silence and Alex could practically feel the awkwardness in the room.

"Why don't we focus on getting out of here first."

1 HOUR LATER

He was back at the Royal and General bank, he had just finished being debriefed. And by debriefing he meant Blunt ripping on him for "losing his cover." Alex was pissed to say the least. He hadn't broken his cover, they knew he was coming! But Blunt wouldn't accept that they had a mole in MI6.

K-Unit was also being debriefed and Alex had no desire to wait around for them to finish. He took the tube back to his house in Chelsea. He hadn't been able to bear the thought of selling it so it was just him in the dark, empty house.

Walking up the steps he knew something was wrong though. Something was off but he didn't know what it was. He warily opened the door, scanning for any trip wires or anything of the like. Nothing.

He shrugged it off and went up to his room, and that's where he saw it.

The letter.

On his bed sat a plain white envelope with his name clearly printed on the front. He ripped it open and gazed in horror at the words printed:

_Dearest Alex, _

_We bring you news of your approaching death. In 24 hours Alex Rider will be no more._

_With Fondest Regards,_

_Mors Omnibus_

**_(A/N) Thanks for all those who reviewed! Please continue! :D_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_(A/N) Thank you all so much for your reviews, I take time to read every single one of them and they make my day. So, without further ado, I give you the next installment._**

**_Disclaimer: Nope, I do not own Alex Rider and I never will._**

He could only gaze in horror at the words printed on the paper. They had been in his house, in his room. They had invaded his last sanctuary and to tell him he was going to die.

He couldn't move. This couldn't possibly be happening. He was supposed to be a normal kid! But then again, he had lost all hope of that when Jack had died.

He heard through a fog his cell phone ring. He answered it with a muttered, "Hello?"

"Alex!" It was Mrs. Jones on the other end, "We just received a letter concerning you. It was from _Mors Omnibus. _They've issued a death threat on you."

"I know," Alex whispered.

"What do you mean you know?" Jones queried.

"I mean, I got a letter too. It was on my bed."

Mrs. Jones seemed more than a little shaken, "Okay, Alex, just stay there. K-Unit is already en route to your house. They should be there within ten minutes."

Alex muttered something unintelligible back before Jones hung up with her final words, "Be safe, Alex. He hung up and then dropped heavily on his bed. This couldn't happen to him, not again. Not after Scorpia.

He took a deep breath to steady himself and heard a heavy knocking on the front door.

Taking his time so he could get his emotions under control he walked downstairs. He peeked through the window before opening the door to K-Unit.

Immediately he was bombarded, "Hey kid are you okay?" "Cub? Why do you have a death threat on your head?" "What took so long?" "Are you okay?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm fine. Now shut up, the lot of you!" Alex snapped at the four SAS men.

They fell silent and Alex took the time to study them. Wolf looked exactly the same, nothing had changed there. In fact they all looked the same as he had remembered them albeit a little less hostile. And also apart from the fact that Fox was no longer there.

He looked at Ben's replacement, "I've met the others, but who are you?"

He replied, "My codename is Bear, and you're Cub I take it?"

Alex smiled lightly, "Yeah, funny ain't it?"

The man seemed friendly enough. He was tall with a mop of blonde hair not unlike Alex's. He seemed easygoing and smiled at Alex's answer.

"Well," he turned back to the rest of his former unit, "I think we all know why we're here. And none of us are happy about it. So let's make it easy on all of us. Don't bother me, and I won't bother you. Sound good?"

Of course Wolf protested, "Now you wait a minute. I demand to know what's going on! Why do you have a criminal organization after you? What are you, seventeen!?"

Alex responded with an icy stare, "That's classified information. And I seriously doubt you have high enough clearance."

Protests were heard all around, but Alex merely ignored them. It was hard enough to have a death threat on your head but to have to bear K-Unit as well? That was just unfair.

A couple of hours later K-Unit had made themselves at home in his front room. They sat sprawled on the couches in front of the TV. Snake had a bowl of popcorn in his hands.

Apparently, orders from Ms. Jones meant that K-Unit weren't to let Alex out of their sight. So, one very disgruntled Alex was with them. He couldn't even walk to the toilet without a member of K-Unit accompanying him.

It was almost 11:30 when it happened.

Bear had just stood up to stretch and at that moment all the windows shattered. Glass rained down everywhere. Alex instinctively covered his heads with his arms. He heard something being thrown into the room and seconds after, the room was filled with a thick gas.

Alex tried to get up off the chair he was sitting on but immediately fell to his knees. He coughed, choking on the putrid gas. He vaguely heard similar coughs coming from K-Unit but couldn't see them. His vision was blurry and he was beginning to see black spots dancing across his vision.

Through the fog however he was able to make out multiple shapes with gas masks strapped to their faces.

On his hands and knees and weak beyond belief, all he could do was watch as a man strode towards him and shoved a burlap bag over his head.

He tried to struggle but his body would no longer respond. He heard a sickening voice next to ear say, "Sleep tight Alex," and then all was black.

**_(A/N) I'm sorry, but I'm known for my cliffhangers. :) Well, please review and tell me what you think. I'll try and update a bit sooner next time! _**


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N) Thank you all for being patient with me. I know, I'm horrible. I have many valid excuses but I'm sure none of you want to hear them! So, before the pitchforks make an appearance… On to the next chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Alex Rider. **

His hands were asleep. They had been tied behind his back and now, since he was lying with them pinned underneath him, they were tingling. Alex felt a rhythmic rocking—so he was in a car.

At that moment, full consciousness reappeared and he realized he was in a trunk! He tried not to panic, he really did. But recently, he had developed claustrophobia. His mandated psychiatrist said it was because of PTSD, but what did they know?

He took some deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth just like he'd been taught. It didn't help. And it didn't change the fact that he couldn't move. His breathing increased, until he was on the verge of hyperventilating.

Luckily, at that moment the car slowed to a stop and the engine shut off. For a moment it was eerily silent. But then he heard car doors opening and the sound of feet on gravel. He only had to wait a moment before the trunk was being opened.

He looked up to see a mask. A man, about 6 foot, stood above him with a twisted-looking clown mask. He was yanked out before he could make a sound. That was when he saw the other 2 cars and the other men, or should he say clowns. The masks were definitely unnerving him, but he tried not to let it show.

"Are you trying to find the freak show?' Cause you lot redefine the word ugly," he tried to mask his rising fear with his sarcastic wit.

No response, just silent, staring masks. Alex looked around, trying to avoid the masks, and saw that they were in an empty gravel parking lot. There was nothing else.

One of the men inched forward and Alex immediately tensed up, preparing to fight. That option was quickly shut down however when he, and his 11 companions brought out their guns. "Woah guys! There's no need for that!" but he knew it was useless.

In that moment he felt a bone-tired weariness come over him. There was nothing he could do. Alex sighed; he was backed into a corner with no escape. He had no gadgets and no gun. No one was coming to help him and a dozen trained agents were slinking towards him, guns drawn.

His hands were tied and he was tired and all he wanted to do was collapse.

He knew when to accept defeat and the other men knew it too.

One man put away his gun and pulled out a knife. The others kept their guns trained on him, unflinchingly. Alex gulped, this was it. He was going to die. He was going to die right here, right now in an empty parking lot. He blinked away the moisture in his eyes, and stood straight. If he was going to die, he was going to die with his dignity.

The man with the knife slowly approached him but instead of stabbing him in the chest, like Alex assumed he would. He grabbed Alex's arm. He held it in an iron-clad grip and then used the knife to cut deep into the flesh below the elbow.

Alex gasped and tried to pull away but his hands were still tied and the man's grip held him steady. Now the man was digging around the wound—poking and prodding as if looking for something. Then, with one more sharp prod the man hit something. Alex winced, trying to keep back tears as the object shifted in his arm.

And out of his wound came a very small, metal contraption. A tracking device, Alex thought through the pain. But when did he…? Of course, MI6.

Once it was removed, the man dropped it to the ground and without so much as a second of hesitation, crushed it under his foot.

The man, the leader, he presumed, then turned to Alex again. He pointed at Alex and then the trunk of the car again. And Alex understood, but there was no way in hell he was willingly climbing back into that trunk. "No, I don't want to get in the trunk."

The leader repeated the motion again, and again Alex resisted.

Heavy arms encircled him from behind and tried to force him in to the trunk but blind panic came over Alex and he thrashed and screamed wildly, spitting obscenities.

Finally, almost blessedly, a damp rag was placed over his mouth and nose and within seconds he was yet again unconscious, arm bleeding sluggishly.

**(A/N) So I'm kinda notorious for short chapters but I assure you I am trying really hard to make them longer. I just love those cliffhangers and if the chapter continues it's not really a cliffhanger… but enough of me. Please review!**


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